Keyholes
by Justified Wings
Summary: Currently in progress. Jak and Daxter is taken through sometime in Jak 2. Kingdom Hearts is taken from some point Kingdom Hearts 2. Not to be taken seriously; it's purely for the humourous.
1. Chapter 1

**Keyholes**  
Part I

_Thud._

"Oof."

Onto the damp ground he went and as he turned, he nearly met the toe of a boot to his face. His blue eyes traveled up the character. Red armour, facial masking, and something that wasn't a keyblade, a wand, or a shield.

"Uh…" Sora began hesitantly, "…That's some really awesome stuff. You know, the stuff on your clothes. Real neat stuff. Decoration, right?"

It was hard to determine what the taller man was thinking. There was no expression to read into. He made his position clear enough, however, when the handle of his gun thrust into Sora's direction. It was blocked by the keyblade.

"Hey! I was saying something nice! You don't hit people who start paying compliments!" Sora protested.

He watched a free hand lift and the other spoke into a black box—with a tone less than friendly. "I've got suspicious activity in this sector. Gather five more and group to my position."

It was as good a time as any, Sora thought. He crept to his feet and when it seemed like he was in the clear, he shot past the older man and pushed himself into a sprint.

"Halt! You are hereby under arrest for malicious intent against the Baron's orderly conduct!"

Sora looked over his shoulder, "Is he serious? He thinks I'm going to stop because he tells me to? This guy's gotta' be kidding!"

Anytime now. Donald and Goofy were going to show up and come to his rescue. Or maybe they'd pinch him hard and he'd wake up because this wasn't a dream he wanted to have. These things weren't Heartless. He didn't know _what_ they were, but they were nothing like the creatures in the other worlds he'd been to. Just what kind of place was this anyway?!

Red lights flashed, alarms went off, and Sora found himself panicking when three more men pursued him.

"All available units, report to the nearest lock facility. The enemy has infiltrated Haven and must be stopped."

_Crackle. Crackle._

"Orders upon successful capture?"

_Crackle._

"Eradication."

Sora didn't know what that word meant, but it sounded bad. It sounded terrible, actually. "No, no, no. Ready to wake up; I'm ready to wake up now!" He shut his eyes tightly, "When I open them, _bam_, I'll be back in Hollow Bastion. Awesome idea, _go_!!"

The disappointment set in when instead of finding someplace familiar, he ran into someone. Large ears protruded from her head. Well, not so much large as they were long.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Sora cringed in reply before he edged past her. It'd slowed him down enough that another glance over his shoulder and the armoured men were upon him. He skittered around a blind corner, welcomed by a vast open area, a refreshing change from the narrow passages of before.

The brief pause gave him a chance to note the flying vehicles above him. Some were _gigantic_, some were smaller, and some in a healthy medium, but none of them resembled gummi ships. They were all being driven by long-eared people, though. Long ears just like the woman he'd collided with and the men behind him.

He looked around quickly, proceeded to go to the right, and found himself caught in some form of vent. "No, no! This isn't a good time for this! Gotta' keep going! Don't slow down!"

His pursuers grew nearer and in spite of leaving a shoe behind, Sora freed himself. Hobbling between the uneven length of his legs, he hopped on one, removed the other shoe and hurled it at the closest one.

"—You brat! We'll see you—"

_Yikes._

"Getting mad's bad for you!" Sora interrupted. "You know what they say. Ships only run on happy faces!" He pulled his cheeks up in the exaggerated grin. It wasn't a ship, of course, but it was the best he could do on such short notice.

Not too far from him was a sign in glowing neon lights. He couldn't read what it said, but the picture of a glass gave the impression that it was a place for drinks and maybe some food too. Whatever it was, it had to be better than being with the loud armoured men. He made a series of mad dashes until he got through the doorway.

A blonde-haired woman stood behind the counter and what looked like an orange squirrel upon it. Sora used all of his strength to hoist himself over the counter and slid across the smooth surface.

"You know what you should really be wearing, baby? I'll give you a hint. It starts with an 'm' and ends with—"

Sora's foot caught and as he tugged and toppled over the counter to the backside where the woman stood, Sora found that he'd brought the squirrel with him.

"You're messing me up! Man, kids have no respect. I didn't sign up for this. This _wasn't_ in the terms of service! I let them get away with gaming rights, but thi—"

Sora threw a hand over the never-ending mouth, making no effort to hide the wince when he was bitten.

"Kid, you need to _shower_, because _damn_, that's rank!"

As the squirrel made his way back onto the counter, he paused when he was faced with the muzzle of a gun, "Oh! Uh… hey! Didn't know you guys were up for a drink. You should have just said somethin'."

"Wise cracking rodent. We're looking for the kid who ran in here. He's wanted for questioning."

"I don't know what to tell ya. The one you're talking about, saw him just go right back out the door. You KG aren't very smart if you're losing track of people now, right?"

"Daxter," spoke up the blonde at his right.

Sora couldn't see what was going on and didn't really want to. He only knew he was gripping the shoes closest to him tightly. That squirrel thing, though—Daxter, he guessed—didn't seem like he was going to sell him out, which was a relief in itself. Maybe not everyone was so bad in this twisted world. The next voice he heard, however, stopped him cold.

"You! What are you all doing here?! You're not being paid to drink on the job!"

The man at the counter stiffened and snapped to attention as he jerked around, "Captain! We had reports of suspicious activity in this district. We're investigating the situation."

"The only thing you'll be investigating is the feeling of my pistol down your damn throat if you don't _move it_. The Baron has called the attention of all local soldiers. If you don't want to become fodder to the Metal Heads, move out _now_."

He grumbled, gave Daxter a glare, and reluctantly withdrew. "This isn't over, you rat. Something's off here and when I come back, I'll find out what that is."

"Yeah, well, don't lose sleep over it."

The man was already gone, though, and the insult fell on deaf ears.

"Daxter," the female long ear repeated.

Daxter looked up at her and sighed in disbelief as his expression contorted, "Bad way to start the day, pissed off Krimzon Guards and all."

Then he jumped over the counter and reached for a small fistful of brown hair and pulled, "Get off'a my Tessy."

Sora let go of the shoes and as he made his way onto all fours, Daxter hung in front of his face, using his grasp to hold on. "Uh… Hehe. Thanks," he chuckled nervously.

"You gotta' death wish or somethin'? Those guys aren't friendly, but even I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight with `em without a plan." Then Daxter zeroed in on the ears—or the lack thereof. "You're not from here. How the hell did you get in?"

Right. Because most people wanted to leave Haven, not pay a visit, thanks to the Baron's "generous contributions".

Sora tipped his head to the side and in a hesitant gesture, motioned up toward the ceiling, "Well, uh… I fell from the sky."


	2. Chapter 2

**Keyholes**  
Part II

"Right," Daxter began in painful disbelief. "You fell from the sky and come from someplace where you're a hero. You hit your head, kid. I don't know what you're talking about, but if you were another experiment for the KG, you're not gonna' have an easy time."

"Huh?" Sora asked, puzzlement spreading over his face. "It's true! I'm really a hero! Hercules even said so! And I have the keyblade!" He rotated the monstrous key in his right hand to demonstrate.

Daxter didn't know what to make of him. At first Sora had just rambled on and hadn't made a lick of sense. The other two let him go on, however, and it seemed as outlandish as Daxter claiming he took out a group of Metal Heads on his own _and_ rescued Jak on top of it. The difference was that Tess believed Daxter's stories (or so he liked to think). Sora's were a little too "out there". He persisted, though, and they let him go until Daxter just couldn't take it anymore.

He paraded himself back and forth across the counter, "We don't have fancy keys that we wave around here, but my Tessy makes some big guns. It's the only way you're going to survive in Haven. If you want to become like Orange Lightning—that's me—then you're gonna' need training. You came to the right man!" He gave a glance up to Tess, "Ain't that right, sugarplum?"

Tess giggled, "That's right!" Then she extended her hands and pulled him into her arms, "No one's as manly as my baby! He's the manliest man that was ever a manly man."

When she started stroking behind his ears, he looked like he was living in bliss. Sora glanced between the two, raised an eyebrow, and unsure of what to say, simply sighed. They sure were set in their ways and nothing he had to say was going to change that.

"You keep talking about the 'KG.' Those the guys who were chasing me?"

Tess nodded, "They're the soldiers of Baron Praxis. He's the leader of Haven. The soldiers are meant to keep everyone in line, but really, they're just mean people."

There was no arguing that. Every little thing set them off. Sora had escalated the situation, sure, but someone it seemed that even if he hadn't they still would have gone nuts. In other words, they just weren't stable, and probably all thanks to that Praxis guy.

"So what're you going to do now? If you're _really_ from a different world, you'll need to go back, right? How're you gonna' manage that?" Daxter asked, finally straightening himself out.

"I… don't know."

Sora's face fell. He still hadn't seen Donald or Goofy and it didn't appear that King Mickey had been in the area. He was utterly lost. Before, he at least had friends. In this Haven place, it was hard not to feel discouraged. So far, it didn't seem like people ran on happy and optimism. While Daxter and Tess had been helpful, he wasn't sure sure if they were going to leave him to his own devices.

"They'll probably come back," Tess indicated the guards from before. "You shouldn't be here when they do."

Sora nodded slowly. He'd figured that. Didn't want to hear it, but had assumed that would happen. So he had to leave and go _where_ exactly? He didn't have a map and sort of wanted to attach himself to Tess, which probably wouldn't fly very well.

"Why don't you take him to Torn?"

Daxter turned to the blonde and gave her a pained expression, "That guy wants to kill me! Have you seen what he does?! He's even got a poster of that Erol guy up in there. You _know_ that's just spelling trouble. He's pulling something and it's not just strings with his informant."

Tess laughed and she gently tugged on Daxter's tail, "Torn's a good guy. He might sound like he's not, but he really is."

"Then why's he always taking jabs at me?!"

"Because he's not a woman. You don't charm him the way you do the ladies."

That was all Daxter needed to develop that arrogant grin again, "Oh, baby, the only lady I wanna charm is you."

And that was awkward. Those two were making eyes at one another and Sora had to admit that he felt like a third wheel.

"Can we get back to me?" When they brought their attention onto him, he continued, "Who's this Torn guy? A good guy? You know, _one_ of the good guys?"

"We _are_ the good guys, kiddo," Daxter replied as he gestured to himself.

"Dax."

The doorway opened and in a valourous stance stood another long ear. Daxter jumped off the counter and skittered across the floor before latching onto the harness that reached across the broad chest. Then he curled himself around the neck amidst the tufts of hair.

"Jaaaak."

Tess lifted a hand and waved, "Hey Jak."

Jak nodded, somewhat curtly before placing his sights onto Sora. Then he looked over to Daxter and adjusted the goggles at his forehead, "Adopting kids already?"

Daxter scrunched up his face, "No, man! Having kids would tie me down! I've gotta' run free! On the other hand, every time I'm running free, something happens and I _always_ get blamed for it. It's like I'm always sayin—"

"My name's Sora!"

The long ear with the green and blond hair—Jak, Sora assumed—turned again. He didn't look impressed. His stern expression was more or less expectant and when Sora didn't bother to add anything more, his look hardened.

"So Jak, those stories that always seem to be fake, this kid's like that. Says he's not from Haven and fell from the sky. Pissed off the KG something bad," Daxter explained in a rather matter-of-fact tone.

Jak's ears twitched, "The Krimzon Guard? What's he doing _here_?"

"We weren't going to let them just take him. We were waiting for you." Tess leaned into her elbow against the edge of the counter, "I said you guys should take him to Torn. Aside from the Baron, I don't think anyone knows Haven better. The little guy's just trying to find his way home. Torn might have an idea."

"That Torn. I don't think I like `im," Daxter grumbled.

"Better him than Krew, right?" Jak asked.

The ottsel visibly winced, "Either way, I'm dead. That Krew, though… Just _no way_. Not happening! _Maybe_ for a gun upgrade, but nothing else!"

Although Daxter continued to rattle off his concerns, the others didn't interject. Finally Jak shook his head, "We're not high on his list of "liked" people."

"I'll go with you," Tess offered. "I can't stay the whole time because I've got to get back here and keep an eye on Krew, but I'll at least talk to Torn for you."

Torn, Krew, Haven, Jak, Baron Praxis, and the Krimzon Guard; they were all foreign words to Sora. Most of the time when he listened, he was one step closer to putting things together on his own. The more they talked, though, the less he was getting it and the more confused he grew. When he thought he'd finally have to interrupt, they decided they would take him to go see Torn, who they explained looked and sounded more frightening than he actually was.

**-x-x-x-**

"Hollow Bastion," Jak commented. "Never heard of it."

"Yeah!" Sora replied excitedly. "It's a really big place! Lots and buildings and they sell ice cream there! That's where the committee is too! Leon, Cid and the others are taking real good care of the place, I bet."

The blank stare he got in return warranted an explanation, "Oh! Uh… they're friends from home. I'm sure if they were here, they'd know how to find a way out."

Tess ruffled his hair affectionately, "Don't worry. We'll help you out. We can't leave such a cute kid to the Baron."

The growl from Jak caught Sora's attention. He wasn't the most observant boy, but Jak didn't seem real interested in hiding his dislike for this Praxis that kept crawling into the conversation.

"Speaking of the Baron," Daxter spoke up as he pulled on one of the adjustable goggle straps. "Heard he was getting the KG grouped up. Sweet stripes was giving the order."

"Huh?" Jak blinked. "Oh. You mean Ashelin." He withdrew the security pass for the bazaar she'd given him, "What are they up to?"

"Don't know. She got rid of them before Krew's place could become flaming toast."

Sora fidgeted as they walked. For as many people as there were, it was hard to imagine they were unhappy. No, they didn't wear goofy grins like his, but they didn't look mad either. They just looked tired. There was the occasional armoured man, but none of them seemed to be a part of the collective from before. Jak and his little gathering had yet to be stopped and for that, Sora was relieved.

"Who's that Krew guy?"

The other three exchanged looks and carefully maneuvered through the alleyways and the shadows of the building rafters. Sora was going to go home anyway, so he wouldn't hinder their plans and even if he'd been on his own, he would have found out eventually. There didn't seem to be any harm in giving him the bare facts for the time being.

"He's a good guy to go to if you want to make some money and keep yourself alive," Jak responded stiffly.

"The guy's tubby. He's like… six of you rolled into one," Daxter added. "Guy's so huge, he can't even walk. _Real_ shady, though."

In spite of the information, Sora wasn't able to determine what he looked like. All he could imagine was a ball with spindly legs and noodle arms. It didn't sound appetizing at all, which meant Krew probably wasn't very nice; less than surprising, really.

"Are we almost there? This town is humongous!" Sora piped up, as though pushing aside his disappointment. "How do you guys find your way around?"

"Do what we do, kid, and it's not hard to remember where everything is," Daxter jumped onto his shoulder and pointed out various land markers. "Right over there, Jak and I once had to get away from all these KGs. Twenty zoomers at least on us and if it hadn't been for me, we would have been gone as Flut Fluts!"

"You keep telling yourself that," Jak muttered under his breath.

"Hey, hey! You got something to say? Don't worry, Jak. One day you'll get to be as manly as me!"

There was a chuckle, the first one Sora had heard from him since they'd met, "Dax, if I were _half_ the man you are—well—that wouldn't make me much of one, would it?"

The joke, the insult, whatever it was, sailed right over Sora's head. Still stuck on the idea of outrunning the armoured men with the flying vehicles was pretty great. At least Daxter made it _sound_ that way.

"Wow, really?? That's so cool! You guys are really awesome!"

Daxter grinned broadly, "Yeah, yeah. I know, kid."

"Hey, you guys. Let's quiet down. The talk of the Underground had caused the Baron to increase the number of KG units in this sector." Tess motioned with a hand as she pressed her back against a cold wall, "Let's be careful. Torn's is just a little bit further."

The rest of their journey went silently until they got to the door. It opened for Tess and she gave Sora an encouraging push in. He stepped cautiously, weary of the dim light in the distance. Down a slanted walkway he went and at the bottom there was a table and a man with a hardened face, who Sora rightly assumed was Torn.

"Torn," Tess greeted in her own optimistic way. She rested a hand upon Sora's shoulder and guided him to the table with a smile, "Thought you could help us with something."

Sora had never seen someone look so angry. Maybe it was the lack of eyebrows and the facial markings. He thought about what Daxter had said before. This Torn man _did_ look like the sort who'd kill squirrels. In fact, he'd probably killed a lot of them in his time.

"Oh, yeah?" Torn asked in that outrageously hoarse tone. His eyes were glued onto Sora, knowing he was a part of whatever it was Tess was asking for. It wasn't that hard to figure out.

Against his better judgment, Sora spoke up and leaned against the table with wide blue eyes, "Hey, do you have a cold, mister? I bet some soup would _really_ help with that. That's what my mom would make me whenever I was sick."

It probably wasn't the first time someone had commented on Torn's voice, and probably wouldn't be the last. He narrowed his eyes at Sora, not entirely sure he was being serious, and then grit his teeth before addressing the others, "`m not a damn babysitter."

It was one hell of a first impression.


End file.
